


The Time-Traveler and Her Knight

by DeiliaMedlini



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Heavily Inspired by Doctor Who, Not a Crossover, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 16:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30041724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeiliaMedlini/pseuds/DeiliaMedlini
Summary: Link is a knight for the Royal Family of Hyrule. He patrols the halls, he stops intruders, he carries a sword he rarely gets to use... until the day a strangely dressed girl bursts into the castle and changes his life forever.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	The Time-Traveler and Her Knight

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily inspired by (but not a crossover with) Doctor Who, this is my random little fic that I have been writing while having writer's block! I liked it too much to just do a oneshot, but it probably won't be very long at all! No set update schedule though!

Link patrolled the halls of Hyrule Castle late in the evening in the rippling heat the summertime sun had trapped inside. He was sweating, desperate for some air, and willing to admit that he wanted a break.

But tomorrow was the day he’d be reassigned, moved out into Hyrule Field where the real threat lay, rather than protecting the King and Queen from local night raiders or burglars, which so rarely happened anyway.

Link spotted one of his fellow guards asleep against a windowsill, snoring peacefully.

There was a crooked portrait of the married royals on the wall, and Link longed to tilt it just slightly.

The floor trembled, like a windstorm hitting the palace.

The nearby books were—

The floor trembled?

Link’s hand flew to the sword that rested on his hip. His eyes darted around before he ran to the nearest window and flung it open. There was barely a breeze, but he could still feel the rattling of the floor.

And suddenly, he saw a glint in the light, a flash of something in the distance. Link’s grip tightened as he squinted outside, and then he drew his sword when he realized it was getting closer.

Link was a trained knight. He was personally chosen by the royal family. He’d fought his share of monsters and men. He was prepared for anything.

Well, almost anything.

The light disappeared, and all of sudden, the door on the other side of the window flew open. Link swung his sword, stopping just short of the creature.

Creature? No, it wasn’t a creature.

It was a woman.

“Whoa!” she muttered, backing up. “Is that a sword? It is. That’s a sword! Oh great! I can’t believe this. I’m in dire need of a power coupling, not a stupid lump of steel, you know? If I had one, then this wouldn’t _KEEP HAPPENING_ and you could just take me where I wanted to go!” she yelled into the air, as if speaking to someone invisible.

Link lowered the weapon and looked her over. She was blonde, had green eyes. That much was normal. But… her hair was short and choppy, above her shoulders and bouncing as she bounded over to him, and a braid was looped around her hair like a band. It wasn’t at all the long or pinned style the ladies around town typically wore their hair. She had a thick black object on her face, just resting on the bridge of her nose, like two tiny windows that allowed her eyes a clear view of the outside.

And _oh goddess_.

“You’re wearing… trousers,” he managed dumbly.

“Thank the gods I am! I’ve had that dream one too many times!” she laughed before her mouth twitched, remembering her task. “Right! You’re going to want to run.”

“Why wou—”

The girl grabbed his hand and dragged him behind her.

She was remarkably nimble, and seemed to almost have an uncanny sense of direction in the otherwise confusing castle.

Not moments later, there was a resounding crash, and Link turned around to see a hoard of angry bokoblins crash into the hallway, screeching before giving chase.

“Stop!” Link yelled, waving his sword behind him, though the bokoblins were still far away.

“Not yet, Sword Boy! There’s too many!”

The girl pulled him up the stairs and then immediately pushed him into the nearest doorway. It was a small closet, and she slammed the door, trapping them both inside. There was a window behind them that Link took note of. It was an escape if this girl was some sort of killer. But from her appearance, he highly doubted it. Besides, the window led onto the tall rooves of the castle and he wasn’t keen on traversing them unless he had to.

“Okay, breather time,” she said, getting comfortable, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

Half of her was pressed into Link, and she made things far worse for him by squirming to reach something behind her.

Link was dumbstruck and at a complete loss for words. This girl… this very, _very_ odd girl in trousers and strange, stretchy bands of fabric that looped over her shoulders and seemed to hold them up. This girl in a shirt that revealed… _oh goddess._

Skin.

She had a high collared shirt, buttoned together over her throat, but there were two triangular cutouts that revealed her collarbones.

He was beyond grateful that she had long sleeves and gloves—albeit fingerless ones—to conceal the rest of her. For her own honor, he looked away, skin burning and red with secondhand embarrassment.

But, despite that all, she hardly seemed to care in the slightest. Perhaps it was her diverted attention.

“Oof!” he hissed, snapping out of his state when he felt a hard jab to his stomach.

“Sorry!” She pulled her arm away and rubbed her elbow. “I’m sorry!”

She gave him a once-over, as if she were truly looking at him for the first time, and then grinned. “You should wear armor if _that_ hurt.”

Link scoffed and sank himself as far away from the girl as the closet allowed.

She was fiddling with a long, brown object, trying to get it in front of her. Finally, she did, and the entire closet lit up an eerie blue.

Link tried to reach his sword again, but it was impossible, and instead, he practically threw himself into her to get a better look. “What is that?” he gasped out. “Is that a fairy?”

“A fair— where did I even end up?” she said, almost disgusted at the notion that he thought _this_ was a fairy. Then, she aimed the device at him and stared into the light while he attempted to cover his face from the harsh light.

She turned it back so they could both see it, but to Link, it was absolutely foreign, so he watched her instead, hoping he could tell if her reactions were good or bad to whatever was on the screen. And as she stared, her eyes moved, like they were reading.

Then, her eyes darted back to him. “Link?”

“How do you know—”

“It says it here. You’re registered in the compendium, which is… odd, to say the least.” Her eyes flickered between him and the screen, trying to figure something out. But she shrugged after some time, resigned to not knowing… for now. “Well, Link, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Zelda.” Then her eyes went back down. “Hyrule Castle, in the era of the… hrmm… it’s a little fuzzy. One more thing to add to the list. I think… are we in the Era of _Air_? No… that’s silly…”

“The what?”

“Never mind! It’s not really that important. We went farther back than I wanted. Which, I guess now the pants comment makes sense.” She aimed the device at the door, and Link balked as he watched the screen.

“What in the name of the Goddess is happening? Is that magic?”

He could see straight through the door on the screen.

“It’s X-Ray, which is science, not magic. Want to see the bones in your hand, too?” she asked with a pleasant smile, offering the device out to him like such _magic_ was a toy.

“I’m the best fighter in this Kingdom, and I’d like to see _you_ try to peel the skin from my hands. You’ll die before you can get your knife,” he growled.

But Zelda scoffed. “Calm down, Fairy Boy. I meant with _this_ , not a knife.” She waved the device. “It’s called a Sheikah Slate. And I need my Guardian to fix it. But my Guardian fell out of the GOT, and I need to find him before I do anything else.”

“ _A Guardian? GOT? Sheikah Slate_? Ma’am, I believe you’re unwell.” He glanced down at her trousers again. Yes, _definitely_ unwell. “Let me help you to the physician.”

But Zelda laughed and turned in the tight space, patting his cheek before opening the door. “I _am_ a doctor. Don’t worry. I’m fine, and you will be, too. Shock wears off eventually. But come on, those bokoblins didn’t take this path yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t!”

Link held his sword out. “You go, My Lady. I will stay here and keep you safe.”

“Mr. Knight, I can keep myself safe. Come on.”

“My name is Link.”

“Yeah, I got that,” she grinned, keeping a tight grip on her Slate. “ _Link_ , thank you for the offer, but I’m good.”

“Z-Zelda?” he stuttered.

She hummed her acknowledgement but didn’t turn.

“What is a… ‘doctor?’ Or pants? Or a Sk-Ski… Ski-ha Slate?”

Zelda picked up her pace as she looked around using the Slate. Her eyes flickered to him, and she motioned for him to keep up. “Pants are trousers, a doctor is a physician, a Sheikah Slate is this rectangle thing, GOT is the Gate of Time, a Guardian is my friend, and I think that’s everything you asked!” She smiled. “Come on! Signal’s getting stronger.”

“What? Where are we going? To what end? Doctor Zelda! Will you _please_ stop for a moment?”

“No time, Little Bird. We’ve gotta fly!”

Link tightened his grip on his sword and followed the mysterious girl. Goddess, he didn’t even know why he was doing so. She was insane! Clearly!

But if she got near the King or Queen… he had to be sure he was close by to stop her. Yes, that was the reason he was following her still.

She skidded to a halt, her short hair bouncing with her, and she spun around, directly into Link. She pushed him by the chest, her nose still in the Slate, and had him backing up down the hall they just ran through.

Zelda looked up at him, narrowing her eyes. “You have tachycardia.”

“I do _not_!” Link said, indignantly. But his eyes softened, and his eyebrows raised. “Wait, what?”

She chuckled and turned him to face a closed door. “Fast heart rate. You should get that checked.”

“Aren’t you a physician?”

“No, just a doctor. There’s a little important difference. I’ll explain it later.”

“What else is new?” he muttered, dutifully following her through the doorway.

Zelda stopped short and looked around. “Oh, wow! This is amazing! I wonder—"

In all the confusion, Link hadn’t noticed where she was leading him. Paintings of every royal family member for generations hung on the wall. Link watched Zelda bound around the room, eyeing each picture individually until she came to a triumphant halt.

“Come here, Sir Knight!”

“Why won’t you just call me by my name?” he grumbled, though he still listened and appeared beside her.

And he froze.

They were looking at a queen from _centuries_ ago. A queen… who was identical to the girl beside him, though her hair was distinctly longer.

“How…”

“Gate of Time. This was the last time I had long hair. I got married by accident, which sounds hard, but let me tell you, if you think we’re in the dark ages _now_ , you should have seen it when—” she stopped short and pointed to Link. “You’re still in shock. I shouldn’t give you details. Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t passed out! You’re doing pretty well!”

“Because I am pretty sure I’m dreaming,” he said, voice flat. He truly believed this was all a dream, and that it was something he’d conjured after a long, dull night on patrol again.

But Zelda giggled. “Whatever you have to tell yourself, I guess. But those bokoblins won’t think it’s a dream when they arrive, so just stay alert Dreamer.”

“Stop calling me names.”

“Don’t make me call you Whiney!” She spun on her heels and took out the Slate again. “Okay Terrako… where are you?”

“Terrako?”

“My Guardian,” she said, plopping herself onto the floor and crossing her legs. “It says he’s right here.” She leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand as she stared at the screen.

Link took the moment to take a breath.

He’d been injured in his dreams before, so pinching himself certainly wouldn’t wake him up. And he was tired for sure, which was something that he never remembered experiencing in his dreams in the past. That was new.

But what if he wasn’t dreaming?

He glanced at the blonde girl, no older than someone in her mid-twenties, about the same age as him. It was entirely possible that he was dreaming when he looked at her. She had a face that he was sure he could have dreamed up, for she was nearly perfect. Nearly, because he still couldn’t wrap his head around the trousers and her strange shirt. But till, it was as if his mind had conjured up perfection, in terms of her appearance.

And her personality? He didn’t know yet. She spoke near nonsensical gibberish about Slates, Guardians, Terrakos; she pulled him into rooms, had little to no sense of personal space, and was now sitting on the floor of the royal palace after claiming to have been painted in a portrait centuries ago. She was an enigma.

“Okay,” Zelda said, rolling off the floor and hopping up with a literal bounce. “I believe he’s above us, not below. The readings indicate an energy spike that amplifies upwards, so if he was below us, we’d see higher readings on this floor. But as it is, there are little to none. I think his locator beacon might have been tampered with, which means someone has him. I need to hurry. Can you get me to the room directly above us?”

But Link’s sense of duty finally kicked in, and his fingers gripped the hilt of the sword tighter. “I cannot. That’s the King and Queen’s quarters, and it’s strictly forb—”

“Great! I remember where those are!” she said, clipping the Slate into place.

“You’ve been here before?”

Zelda pointed to the painting. “Queen Zelda, remember?”

“I can’t… you’re… serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious!” She laughed, almost implying that she was, in fact, not serious. Link had never felt so confused. But she shook her head out and pulled her hair back, almost as if to tie it up before remembering that it was too short for that now. “Are you going to come on an adventure with me, or shall I see who has Terrako on my own?”

This girl. This insane, trouser-wearing, time-traveling, insane girl.

Bokoblins were running through the halls of the palace. A ‘Terrako Guardian’ was missing. The King and Queen were unprotected. He wasn’t doing his job. There were people in danger. People at risk.

He shouldn’t.

He should go back into the halls and stop the bokoblins. He should destroy this Terrako if it’s anywhere near the royal family. He should protect his King and Queen.

But this girl was offering him everything he’d ever wanted from his mundane life with one simple question.

And of course, he knew his answer.


End file.
